


Ink Blossoms

by CinnamonJai



Category: Attack on Titan, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, F/F, F/M, Fluff, I promise Mikasa will be here... someday, M/M, Marco is a cinnamon roll, Modern AU, Non-Binary Armin, Slow Build, college friends!Eren and Jean, literal dork of the century Jean, smut MAYBE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 14:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5501237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonJai/pseuds/CinnamonJai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean and Eren own a florist shop together, where Jean meets a new tattooist, Marco, who just opened his new tattoo parlor down the street.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jean pushed the small metal key into the lock and turned it. He bent down and lifted the door stop to let the door open. He reached to the large window next to the door and flipped the sign so people outside the shop could read ‘Come in! We're open!’. The morning sun warmed the small florist shop and the smell of blossoms filled the room. The blinds rose as he pulled the string and let more light in. The golden light made the lighter top of his hair glow slightly. 

A small smile came across his face as he watched all the early morning commuters with their expensive coffee and phones rush past the little shop. Out of all of the people in the city he guessed he was the only one who loved Mondays.

His co-worker entered the room, carrying a broom and sweeping dust and petals that littered the floor. Jean turned towards him. “Hey asshole don't forget you have to do the stand today”.  
  
Jeans’s co-worker looked up, his hair a mess and bags under his eyes, the bags a darker shade then the chestnut tone of his skin. “Go to hell Jean. No way I'm doing the stand today”.

Jean responded with false sympathy. “Aww did someone have a rough night?”

His co-worker was less than amused. “Like I said, go to hell”. He swept the debris on the floor to the side of the room. “I'm too hungover for this shit this early.”

Jean laughed and took the broom from him, setting it aside.. “Eren if you want to stay up all night and party on the night before you work the stall that's your issue, don't come crying to me because of it.”

“Please man, if I work the stall we aren't going to get any business,” Eren pleaded.

Jean rolled his eyes at the shorter man. He went and picked up an apron from the hooks next to the door and put it on. “Fine. I'll cover for you, but you owe me.” Eren nodded his thanks and went into the store room. Jean pushed the door open, the small bell chiming as he exited. The morning was cool but the sun was warm. He wore the green apron marked with the store name ‘5th Street Florists’ and a grey sweater with khakis. The name of the shop wasn't very original but it brought business to him and his college friend.  
  
He opened the door to the cart and pulled out several bouquets of roses and tulips and set them on the cart. With the cart set up, there was nothing to do but wait. There would be more businesses later in the day when all the forgetful gift-needing commuters would rush to the store in search of a last minute birthday or anniversary gift.

Jean leaned against the brick wall behind him and watched the flood of people who were too late or too absorbed with whatever they were doing to care about the flowers on the cart. By eleven o’clock, he had managed to sell no flowers from his stall, although about five or six people had entered the store. By this time of the day the city had gotten as quiet as it can in the day, with the rush hour over and gone and the lunch rush yet to happen. The city remained quiet except for the low hum that always exists and the occasional siren.

With the warm quiet lulling him into a day-dream he practically jumped when someone said hello to him. When he recovered he looked at the person in front of him. He was only slightly taller than Jean, wearing dark skinny jeans and a shirt from a band he couldn't name. The man’s dark brown hair swept across his face and matched his mocha colored skin and similarly colored eyes. Jean snapped out of the daze he was in and greeted the customer. “Hello! Welcome to 5th Street Florists, how can I help you today?” He smiled at the customer, happy that someone had come.

The man smiled back to him. “I was wondering how much it is for a rose?”  
  
Jean indicated to the signs on the cart “The prices are all right there. It's five dollars for a single rose and twenty for a bouquet.”

The man laughed at himself. “Oh it is all right there. Whoops.” He studied all the prices and pointed to a red rose. “I'll take one of those please.” He drew out his wallet as Jean pulled the rose out and cut the stem to size.  
  
As he pulled out the cellophane wrap for the stalk he struck up a conversation with the customer. “If you don't mind me asking, who's the rose for?”  
  
“Oh it's not for anyone,” the customer responded. “I have a small tattoo parlor down the street and I wanted it in there so I can sketch it.”  
  
Jean finished wrapping up the rose and handed it to him. “That'll be five-fifty please.” The customer handed him the money. “I didn't know there was a tattoo parlor on this street”.

The man was distracted by trying not to drop his bag, coffee and new rose. “Hm? Oh we just opened recently. Here’s our card.” He pulled a small card from his pocket. It read ‘New Ink Tattoos, 7360 5th Street, Marco Bott and Armin Arlert. Phone: 655-810-1036’  
  
Jean pocketed the card, himself not really interested in tattoos. Despite that, there was a little voice in his head telling him to check it out. “Thank you for coming, and for the card!”  
  
The man, who Jean now presumed was named either Marco or Armin, smiled and waved good bye as he made his way up the street. Jean’s eyes could not help themselves as they drifted to the slightly low hanging skinny jeans of the man walking away.  
  
  
The day went on and the crowds of people came and went. By five, the sun was still high in the sky but the little shop was covered in shadows from the rows of skyscrapers behind it. When the last of the rush hour traffic had left the city to its quiet dormancy before the dinner rush, Jean packed up the cart and brought the money box indoors. Eren looked considerably better than he had in the morning.

“How did running the shop go Mr. Wasted?” Jean asked as he put the money in the lockbox under the counter.

Eren cracked a smile as he picked up a broom and swept up the leaves and petals that had fallen over the day. “Piss off, Jean. I didn't even drink that much.” He pushed a key that he had on a lanyard into the lock and turned it.

The window locks closed with a clack as Jean checked them all. He looked over his shoulder at his co-worker. “Hey, not my fault you're a lightweight,” he responded with a smirk.

“Fuck off. I'm not a lightweight,” Eren said defensively, giving Jean a playful push. He walked off into the store room and opened the staff door and was followed by Jean. “Speaking of lightweights, Mikasa and I were going to go out tonight. Wanna come with us?”

Jean laughed at his friend. “Do the words ‘third’ and ‘wheel’ mean anything to you? Like I'd join you two love birds on your sappy dates.” The two walked to where their cars were parked, Eren unlocked the white Prius that sat next to Jean’s car. “Besides, I have something I wanted to do.” He opened the door to his car, but before he could get in Eren responded to him.

“Did it have anything to with that cute boy you were checking out at the stand this morning?” he said with a smirk.

Jean was shocked and retorted indignantly, “I will have you I did not check him out!” He glared at Eren. “He gave me his business card. That's all,” he stated.

Eren looked back at Jean with a skeptical expression. “Alright, whatever you say,” he sat behind the when of his car. Jean stepped into his car when he heard a beep from Eren’s car. Looking over he saw Eren making a heart with his hands at him. Jean rolled his eyes and flipped him off. He could see Eren laughing as he pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
On his way home Jean couldn't get the face of the cute person who came to his shop that morning. When he got to his apartment , he searched the name of the shop that was printed on the card. The search came up with a picture of the storefront, the words ‘New Ink Tattoos’ were printed in black gothic letters with white outlines, standing in front of the shop were the two owners, the one who came to his stall that day and another one, much shorter than him, with golden blonde hair and was smiling brightly. The caption under the picture read The owners of the newly opened ‘New Ink Tattoos’, (right to left) Armin Arlert and Marco Bott.  
Jean looked at the picture for several minutes, trying to figure out if the two men in the picture were business partners or something more. He was snapped out of his concentration by a text on his phone. He checked it, seeing it was from Eren. It read ‘How's stalking that guy going?’  
Jean shot back a response, ‘I'm not stalking him! Not even interested in him’. He looked back up at his laptop screen, and it came to him that he was really stalking the man. He closed his laptop, picked up his phone and walked into the small living room that was connected to his room. He gazed out the window that looked over the city. The phone in his hand vibrated again but for now he was ignored it. He only could think, A _m I interested in him?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean is falling fast for the tall boy who is adorable as he is awkward

That night Jean found it hard to sleep. His mind was focused on the face of the man who came to his stall that day. The chocolate brown hair that fell across his face, the freckles that dotted his cheeks, a darker color than the mocha colored skin around them. Jean turned over and looked at the clock next to his bed, and the time of 12:43 shone out in red light. He closed his eyes, trying to force the face from his mind. Eventually, exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep.

At 5:00 that morning, an alarm blared from the clock, jolting Jean awake. He rolled out of bed, hitting the off button on the clock. He sat on the edge of his bed, willing himself awake. A light blinked on his phone, and Jean reached over and picked it up. He saw the numerous notifications from different apps, and a single text that was from Eren. He unlocked the phone and checked the text. It said ‘Think your crush is gonna come back today??’.

Jean quickly shot off a response, ‘I don't have a crush, and he just wanted a rose to sketch’. The room was dark except for the light of the phone screen. Jean clicked off the phone and turned on the lights, temporarily causing his eyes to sting. Sleep still inhibiting his balance, he stumbled to his closet, dressing in a black t-shirt and khakis. He decided against a sweater as he would be working inside. He stepped into the living room, a faint pale light came in from the window. The sun had not yet risen, but a soft pink glow was slowly growing in the east.  
  
As he rode the elevator down to the parking garage, a part of his mind was wondering if the man would come back today. He forced those thoughts down, determined not to prove Eren right that he was interested in Marco. On the drive to work, the light slowly grew brighter. The sun would not rise for sometime. When Jean reached the store, he was surprised to see Eren's Prius parked in his usual spot, Eren usually did not arrive until much later than him. The realization came to him that he was probably quite late if Eren had already here. He opened the staff door, and saw Eren was bringing vases from the storeroom to the front. Jean closed the door behind him. “Well look who's finally on time for once,” he remarked.

Eren turned towards him. “Look who’s late, asshat,” he responded, placing more flowers in bouquet racks.

Jean rolled his eyes. He walked to the door and tried to pick out the key that opened the door but dropped it. Having a mostly sleepless night had made his coordination worse. After a moment of fumbling with the many keys on the keychain, he managed to unlock the door. He reached to turn over the open sign but he noticed that it was already turned over. He yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his hand and turned back to the counter. Eren had finished placing the bouquets on the racks and opening the blinds. “Damn, you look like a zombie. Are you okay bro?” he asked as Jean stumbled past him to the storeroom where their coffee pot sat.

“Do I look okay?” Jean retorted irritably. He poured coffee into a styrofoam cup, reaching to the creamer packets. In a tired voice, he said, “I got like five hours of sleep last night.” He poured several packets into the steaming cup.

Eren laughed. “Want some coffee with that creamer?” he asked, grinning at his friend. Jean walked past him, putting the cup onto the the white and grey counter. He folded his arms and put them on the counter, face hidden behind his arms.

His muffled voice came from behind his arms. “Literally fuck off.” Jean looked up to the sunlight that was peeking up over the buildings across the street. “Just…go to the cart, I don't want your ugly face here anymore.”

“You won't get anywhere with your crush if you talk like that,” the shorter man said as he walked out of the store to the cart. Jean glared at him as he took out vases and placed them on the cart shelf.  
  
The day blurred by, some customers coming in to buy flowers and one family who came in looking for directions to a hotel. Around the time that the cute stranger had come the previous day, Jean decided, slightly disappointedly that he wasn't coming back. But, when it was almost, noon he looked up and noticed someone in a black shirt with brown hair and dark skin talking to Eren. He tried to recognize the person’s face but could not through the glass. He saw Eren point backwards to the shop and the person look up to the window and then walk into the shop.

A small chime rang as the door opened and the person walked in, and as he did, Jean recognized the person Marco looked around the shop in a false casual way, in a few moments he walked up to the counter. “Hi!” he said cheerfully, then quickly lost the confidence of the first word. “l… I lost the rose I bought yesterday, and I was wondering if I could get another?” A slight blush spread across his cheeks as he spoke.  
  
A single thought dominated Jean’s mind: Fuck it all he's too cute. It was a moment before he figured out how to respond. “Um yeah, sure! Let me get that for you!” He walked over to the side of the shop and picked a rose from a bouquet and came back over to the register. “So, you're name is Marco right?” He had figured it out last night but didn't want to seem like a stalker.

The brunette smiled and nodded “Yup. Marco Bott.” Jean kept repeating the name in his head, Marco Bott. How does someone so sweet run a tattoo parlor? He finished wrapping the rose in the cellophane, and punched in some numbers into the cash register.  
  
“Well that will be five-fifty please, Marco Bott.” Jean said, looking up at the taller man with a smile. Marco brought out his wallet and swiped his debit card in the scanner. Jean handed the rose to him. “Try not to lose this one,” he said playfully to Marco.

Confusion spread over Marco’s face momentarily, then faded. A blush spread again slightly to his cheeks. “Right! Thanks for the flower!”  
  
As Marco turned, a part of Jean’s brain came up with an idea. Ask for his number. he summoned his courage. “Hey, um, Marco?”

Marco stopped and turned. “Hm?” His deep brown eyes made all of Jean's bravery leave him.

His mind raced for some kind of excuse to get out of the hole he just dug himself into. “Um enjoy the rose!” He immediately realized the stupidity of what he said, mentally cursing himself.  
  
Marco smiled at him, giggling slightly. “Thank you, I will!” responded Marco as he opened the door and started to walk down the street towards his shop.

Jean smiled to himself, happy that Marco visited. The buzz of his phone vibrated, causing him to jump slightly. He pulled the phone from his pocket to check the text. It was from Eren. ‘Did you ask him out?!’

He breathed a sigh of frustration. ‘Fuck. Off. Why do you care anyway??’ he sent back.

The response came, not by text but by Eren sticking his head through the door and calling, “Because you're a sad and lonely soul!” before ducking back out and returning to the cart.  
Sighing in embarrassment and frustration he covered his face in his hands, critically reviewing the most recent exchange ‘Oh my god, enjoy the rose? Really?’. He felt his face grow hot as cast around for something to take his mind off of the coversation that recently happened. But it was to no avail, the face of the person was burned into his minds eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how long it took for this one to get up, I'm fantastic at procrastinating. If you have any thoughts about how this should go or the like, please drop a comment!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean finally gains the courage to do the impossible: ask his crush for his number.

**Chapter 3**

The day ended, the sun turning the bland glass and concrete of the city to a radiant gold in the sunset. Jean drifted from action to action, focusing only partially on the present and mainly on Marco. With the last customer gone and the closing time arrived, Jean and Eren went through the daily ritual of closing the store. 

 

“Jean! Watch what the hell you’re doing man!” Eren exclaimed as Jean, who was sweeping the floors, knocked over an empty bouquet rack, sending it to the floor with a clang. 

The sound snapped the two-toned blonde to focus. “Shit, sorry Eren, I wasn't paying attention.” He reached down and pulled the rack back up to standing upright. Jean rubbed his eyes with his hand. “I got a bit zoned out there.”

 

The shorter sighed, his green eyes rolling. Eren replied, “Well focus on the floor not that boy you wanna bang.”

 

His reply came as a scoff. “Whatever man.” His focus returned to his work. Though he tried to stay cool, a slight blush betrayed his feelings. A resolution came to him in the next moments:  _ I should go to the tattoo parlor _ . He considered it for a moment, then acted on it. “Hey Eren could you finish closing up for me? There's something I want to do.” 

 

The other feigned surprise. “What? Jean, asking me nicely?” said Eren sarcastically. “I never thought I'd see the day”.

 

“Don't be an asshole Eren.” Jean said, leaning the broom against the counter. “Besides, you owe me.”

 

Eren responded by rolling his eyes and agreeing to Jean’s request. At that Jean quickly hung his apron on the hook and went out the door. The door swung closed behind him with a small chime that was quickly muffled by its closing. He dug his phone from his pocket and quickly typed in the address to the tattoo parlor where his new found crush would be. The directions led him up the street a ways, past small shops and restaurants. He was around a quarter mile from his shop where he started when he heard a guitar solo seeming to be from some rock song he didn't know. He continued towards the music and saw the black walls of a shop and  guessed that this was what he was looking for.

 

When he reached the shop, gothic letters on the front read, ‘ _ New Ink Tattoos’ _ . The song had changed, now to a loud mix of drums, guitar, and screaming. He raised an eyebrow at the choice of music.  _ Edgy, much?,  _ he criticized mentally, but did not speak aloud. He took a few deep breaths and noticed his heart was hammering in his chest.  _ Here it goes. _ He put his hand on the darkened glass door that was reflecting a dark amber glow from the sun, and pushed it open, only to hear a low thump as it hit something and a surprised yelp from inside.

 

He cocked his head in confusion, pulling the door back towards him he looked in and saw someone with short blonde hair and wearing a leather jacket, rubbing his head in pain. “Oh shit sorry man!” Jean apologized stepping over to the them, concerned.

 

The person, who was much shorter than Jean, laughed. “It's okay, I wasn't paying attention,” they reassured him.

 

Looking up they noticed Jean’s concerned face. “Seriously I’m fine,” they restated. Both of them stood awkwardly in silence, “So, are you here with a tattoo scheduled?” 

 

“Oh, no I’m here to see Marco, um, is he still here?” asked Jean shifting nervously. 

 

The shorter one nodded and called out to the back of the shop, “Hey Marco there's a guy here to see you!” 

 

A familiar voice to Jean came back. “Alright, I'll be there in a little while, just need to finish with this client.”  

 

The blonde shrugged. “Well I guess just wait out here for a bit,” they suggested.

 

Jean thanked the person, they said to him “Well I’m off for the day so, goodbye!”, they left the shop. Choosing a seat along the near wall, he looked around the waiting room he stood in, the shop was colored in dark greys and black with blue accents, pictures of various sample tattoos were hung on the walls, ranging from simple roses to intricate murals of wild animals. In the middle of one of the walls was a doorway, leading to a separate room where chairs were placed along the back wall. Magazines were scattered around the several coffee tables that separated the chairs. Jean shuffled through them, uninterested. Three or so chairs down a young woman with blonde hair and bright blue eyes sat focused on her phone. She also seemed to be waiting. 

 

After what seemed to Jean like forever, a woman walked out of the separated part of the shop. She was tall, taller than Jean, with dark skin and darker hair tied in a pony tail. The blonde girl upon seeing her ran over to the taller girl and looked excitedly at the new tattoo on the woman’s arm, and the two of them walked out hand in hand. 

Jean waited a moment, considering if he was up to the task of asking for Marco’s number, He almost got up to leave when the person he had a crush on walked into the part of the shop he was in. 

“Oh hello! Can I help you?” Marco said, not quite noticing who he was speaking to.

 

A quick deep breath filled Jean’s lungs as he prepared himself “Hey Marco, um, I wanted to ask you something at my shop but I, uh, got a bit nervous.” stammered out Jean, his pounding heart seeming to shake his whole body.

 

Marco was confused, but then remembered the conversation that had ended awkwardly several hours ago. “Sure, what did you want to ask me?” the sweet and innocent smile he gave Jean almost made him lose confidence again.

 

“Well, um, Can- Can I have your number maybe?” Jean asked a blush coming over his face. 

 

Taken aback by this, it took Marco a moment to respond, “Yeah! Sure, um, here let me write it down.” he walked back to the separated part of the shop. 

 

Unconsciously, Jean followed him. This part of the shop reminded him of a barber shop, three individual plush looking chairs lined up, each stall with a cart with tattoo machines on them and open books of sketches. Marco went behind a desk and got a piece of paper and quickly wrote down his number and handed it to Jean. As he took it he noticed two roses on the desk, on slightly more wilted than the other, but he said nothing of it. “Thanks! I- I’ll text you later so you can have mine.” 

 

Marco seemed pleased at this and smiled sweetly at Jean “Alright! Well.. I’m kind of closing now so..” 

 

Jean nodded, “Right, yeah! Um, thanks for your number!” He said, cursing for himself for being so awkward. “See you Marco!””

 

“Bye!”

  
Jean existed the shop, the sky was dim, but with a bright orange and pink glow to the west. He pulled out his phone and put in his new crush’s number.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long and was so short!! I promise there will be a much better (and quicker) ch. 4!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean and Marco have their first date.

The first few weeks of texting each other, neither Jean nor Marco was sure if the other shared the crush they had. The first few texts were infrequent and awkward, both of them being more or less strangers to the other. But both began to visit the others shop more frequently. After two weeks of texting each other Jean began to deliver a rose weekly to Marco which he insisted to both Eren and to Marco that it was simply because the previous week’s rose had probably wilted. 

Jean had texted Marco a few times since getting his number, but had limited himself, to not seem over enthusiastic. The two saw each other frequently but not on a date. Jean was mostly discouraged by Eren's non stop teasing about the budding relationship forming. 

Jean finally made the decision to commit to his feelings one day, it was raining. The sky was grey and the roads slick with the warm rain. Almost no one had come inside that day for a rose, and during the mid afternoon Jean decided to text Marco. 

‘Hey!’

Several minutes later, ‘Hey! What's up?’

Jean took a deep breath, ‘Well, I was wondering if you had any plans this afternoon?’

‘Not that I can thibj of’, Another buzz, ‘Woops think! sorry!’ 

_ How can someone making a typo be so cute?, _ Jean thought as he read the texts. ‘Haha its okay. Hey would you like to go out for coffee after you close?’ 

Jean waited, every moment making him panic. 

‘Sure!! Where to?’

Jean’s heart soared, ‘ _ He said yes oh my god!’ _ He took a moment to calm himself down, ‘I'll walk you there if that's okay!’ 

‘Alright! See you then :)’ 

Jean punched the air in excitement, grinning wide. The few more hours for him went by in a breeze, not focusing on the one or two people who came in. At the end of the day Eren came in, his shoes soaked despite him standing under the stall awning all day. Jean was still smiling, Eren, who was cold and wet, was not. 

“What has you all happy?” Eren asked slightly irritated as he rubbed his hands together. 

“Oh nothing”, Jean replied still smiling. 

Narrowing his eyes at Jean Eren smirked, “It's about Marco isn't it?” He questioned, Jean looked away and went about his task of sweeping the floor. Eren came to a realization “You got a date didn't you?” He asked grinning from ear to ear. 

“Don't ruin this for me Eren” Jean said playfully “I don't need you raining on my parade” 

“I knew you had a thing for him, and I was right”, the other said proudly, he walked to the counter, leaning over it and holding his head up with his arms, “So, where are you two going?” Eren asked with great interest. 

“Not your business, I don't need your ugly face coming and taking pictures like the paparazzi” Jean said, putting his apron up and finishing his sweeping, “It's somewhere nice, all I'm saying.” He walked past Eren into the back of the shop and grabbed his coat.

Eren scoffed, following Jean’s actions. “As if I’d want pictures of you being sappy with some boy you just met on my pure, innocent phone”.  

“Eren, I've used your phone like eighty times, and neither pure nor innocent are words you can use to describe that thing.” 

The shorter one pretended to be offended, “I feel deeply insulted by your lies Jean.” Jean rolled his eyes.

 

By the time Jean left the rain had lessened but still was coming down hard. Under the hood of his jacket, Jean was smiling uncontrollably the excitement was too much for him to contain, as he crested a hill he could just faintly hear the sound of intense guitars and drums telling him he was close. When he got there he could see the tall brunet standing there under the purple lights of the awning.

Marco looked over to him, “Hey, Jean!” He called over the rain. Jean jogged to the awning to get out of the rain.

“‘Sup! You ready to go?” Said Jean as he took off his hood. 

Marco beamed back at him, “Yup! Lead the way, man.” 

Pulling his hood back over his head, Marco pulled a small umbrella from his messanger bag and popped it open. The two of them stepped out from the awning into the rain, “Hey c’mere” Marco said and held the umbrella out a little ways so Jean could stand under it too.

The shop was full of people, and had the warm, fresh smell of coffee. After they ordered their drinks, Jean getting a caramel macchiato and Marco a chai latte. They sat at a booth near a large bay window and sat sipping their drinks in awkward silence for a while, “So...” Jean started, trying to get a conversation to happen.

“So?” Marco smirked, taking a drink from his latte.

Jean smiled slightly, “Why did you become a tattoo artist?”

Marco’s smirk became a slightly sad smile as he looked out the window, “My Dad. He’s an amazing artist, I always loved watching him as he drew, as a little kid I would sit next to him and try to draw what he was drawing with crayons.” He laughed softly, and took another drink “My dad and I weren’t that well off, he couldn’t find many people who would pay him for his art, so in highschool I took up doing ameture tattoos for other students, it helped some but he hated I was doing it, thought it was ‘ruining the sanctity of art’. Plus it was kinda illegal.” 

Jean laughed, “Yeah, I can see how he wouldn’t like that.” 

“Mmhm.” Agreed Marco, “To be fair though it was actually pretty lucrative, man. High schoolers will pay like seventy bucks to get their partner’s name tattooed on them.” He took a drink, “What about you? 

“Well, my parents are pretty well off and they had this big flower garden in our yard, I loved it. I would always have flowers in my room from there, it was great. I was really into science and I was going to be a biologist but I couldn’t handle the dissections and shit in college so I went into plants.” 

Marco started to giggle, “Oh wow really? You don’t seem like the kind of guy to be squeamish enough to drop your dream field.” 

Blushing slightly Jean joked “Hey man we had to dissect a cat! A cat!” That only made Marco start to laugh harder, “And besides you don’t seem like the kind of guy to have an illegal high school tattoo job” Jean chuckled

“True.” Marco admitted still giggling.

Jean smiled at him, and drank his coffee, “Hey I’ve wanted to ask, who chooses the music you play outside your store?” Jean asked, “No offense but it does kinda seem edgey”

 

Smiling and rolling his eyes Marco replied, “Armin chooses it, they found this station that plays hard rock and they said it would ‘give better atmosphere to the store.’” 

“Well it certainly give an atmosphere to the store, though I’m not sure it’s better.”

“I know right!” Said Marco, “I keep telling them that it’s scaring away all the non-goths that want tattoos but I don’t think they think those exist.”

“I don’t know man, I haven’t seen any of those.” 

Marco gave him a shocked look and started to laugh, “Do I look like a goth person to you?”

“Well..” Jean started with mock thoughtfulness. “Wait you have a tattoo?” He questioned.

“Why would I work at a tattoo parlor and not have a tattoo?” 

Jean shrugged, drinking his coffee “Fair enough, But to be honest the first time you came to the shop you did kind of look goth.”

“What are you even talking about?” Marco responded with a playful hand wave.

“Black skinny jeans, black shirt, black shoes.”  Said Jean with a smirk

Marco laughed “Whatever man” He smiled “Tattoos are cool! You should get one.”

Jean raised an eyebrow, “Of what? And where even?”

Eyeing him for a moment Marco said, “On either your hip or shoulder probably would be best.” 

“What would I get?’

Marco thought for a moment, “A rose.”

  
The clouds parted as the two of them talked and laughed together, slowly the rain was lightening and streaks of grey-yellow light came across the faces of the buildings and sidewalks, turning them to pale gold and silver. The sunlight eventually grew till it fell through the window and across their faces making their faces be shown in sharp relief and make their shadows elongate and shoot across the cafe floor. Marco reached out to put down his drink, and in their shadows, their hands were holding each other’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR BEING AWFUL AND TAKING LIKE 7 MONTHS TO PUT THIS UP IM BACK ON TRACK NOW 5 AND 6 WILL BE OUT SOON FOR REAL THIS TIME IM SO SORRY

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic that will slowly be added to as I get around to writing more. I'm not sure where it's going at the moment so be prepared for pretty much anything.


End file.
